Refreshed parties run close race for silliest release

The January political doldrums must be upon us, because Democrats and Republicans engaged last week in a contest over who could send out the silliest press release. Decide among yourselves who won.

State Democrats tried to use the Jack Abramoff scandals to needle U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings. Now that the fedora-wearing lobbyist has pleaded guilty, the Ds demanded, “When will Hastings return Abramoff’s campaign cash?”

“It’s high time for Congressman Hastings to do the right thing for the families he represents by returning Jack Abramoff’s money,” said state party Chairman Paul Berendt.

Hastings, the Democrats noted, took $500 from Abramoff.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Five HUNDRED dollars? From the guy who allegedly dumped campaign cash like it was Monopoly money?

A little research also shows the donation was in 1997, which means it was a) before any of the alleged activity in the Abramoff scandals unfolded, b) when it constituted less than one-tenth of 1 percent of Hastings’ total campaign take, and c) when he got nearly 70 percent of the vote against Democrat Gordon Pross. Maybe they’re just sore about the fact that this was $50 more than Pross spent on his whole campaign.

Crack researchers at Democrat HQ apparently missed the fact that Hastings also got $500 from Abramoff for his 1996 campaign, but that’s another issue.

In any event, Hastings’ campaign announced last week that he was donating $1,000 to the Salvation Army, with the usual GOP caveat that the contribution was perfectly legal at the time, but the donation seemed appropriate in light of the guilty pleas.

State Republicans, meanwhile, reached deep to take a shot at their favorite target, Gov. Christine Gregoire, harrumphing that the gov’s dog seems to be getting unfair protection from wild animals roaming the grounds of the mansion.

Seems the mansion backyard was briefly beset by raccoons, possums and even coyotes, according to a story first reported in the Olympian newspaper. They’ve gotten so bad that the first dog, a 13-pound Pomeranian named Franz, wasn’t allowed out by himself. The state patrol, which is in charge of mansion security, hired a trapper to snatch up some of the first two species and has run off some coyotes.

This led state GOP Chairman Chris Vance to complain that Franz is “protected by the State Patrol” and that Gregoire’s “arrogance is amazing.”

“We have raccoons and coyotes in my neighborhood, but state troopers don’t camp out to protect my neighbors’ pets,” he said.

Which would be a pretty good rant if: a) the troopers were camping out, b) troopers were walking Franz or c) the wildlife was being drawn to the mansion by the prospect of a Pomeranian midnight snack.

WSP Sgt. John Sager, who is in charge of mansion security, says none of that is the case. Troopers do not camp out at the mansion, although they have for years provided security round-the-clock. It was Sager and other troopers who first noticed what he described as “a huge influx” of wild animals in late November. One morning troopers reported sightings of four coyotes that weren’t much bothered by proximity to humans.

The reason was not Franz, but a Dumpster with a loose lid that allowed critters to get into discarded food. The lid was eventually secured, but the animals hung around.

Sager said he made the decision to hire what is technically known as “a wildlife control operator” for the smaller critters. No extra troopers were put on duty, but those who were there did increase foot patrols slightly to ward off coyotes.

The main concern, Sager said, was human safety, both the first family and the influx of tourists and guests with the holiday season, when hundreds of people tour the mansion. He had a secondary concern about Franz, like he would for any pet, he said, but it mainly consisted of his warning to the first family not to let the dog out by itself because of the traps or the wild animals.

The governor never called out the troopers to protect her pooch. Mike Gregoire, not the troopers, walks the dog, Sager said.

“It wasn’t really a big deal,” he said.

Just wondering

Mike Connelly did a noteworthy job as Spokane’s city attorney under two different mayors. But Connelly has been gone from that post for about six months now.

Which makes us wonder why he’s still listed in that position on the city’s Web site. And who answers any e-mail he might get when someone clicks on his link on the page that lists city departments.

Turn of a phrase

Dan Adamson of Chubbuck, Idaho, jumped into that state’s gubernatorial race last week with an interesting campaign slogan.

“Idaho is for Idahoans.”

While this has great potential for xenophobia, Adamson elaborates on this theme as knocking off the usual politics and spending Idaho taxpayers’ money on educating Idaho’s youth.

Which is much better than a plan to close off the border to keep out Montanans and Washingtonians.